Anna Faris

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, actress Anna Faris made a name for herself in broad comedies, starting with the horror spoof-within-a-spoof "Scary Movie" (2000) - itself a send-up of other horror par...
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Jeff Bridges returns to his role as video game hacker Kevin Flynn in the new Disney 3D movie, reprising his character from the original Tron in 1982.
Family adventure Yogi Bear, starring Anna Faris and featuring the voices of Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake, cowered behind Tron: Legacy in second place, debuting with $16.7 million (£11.13 million), while The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader slips to three with $12.4 million (£8.27 million).
Hotly-tipped Oscar favourites The Fighter and Black Swan continued to draw in the crowds with strong takings of $12.2 million (£8.13 million) and $8.3 million (£5.53 million), respectively, placing the films in fourth and seventh in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson's new romantic comedy failed to woo movie-goers this weekend (17-19Dec10) - it scrapped in at number eight with a gross of $7.5 million (£5 million).

Screenwriter Jamie Linden has been blessed with an extraordinary cast for his directorial debut, the ensemble drama Ten Year. In fact, he seems to be picking prime talent from his past cinematic endeavors. Starting with just Channing Tatum (who also will produce the picture) and wife Jenna Dewan, the cast has grown to include a slew of young stars, including Chris Pine, Anna Faris, Brian Geraghty, Anthony Mackie, Kate Mara, Chris Pratt, Justin Long and Scott Porter (Mackie, Mara, Porter, Tatum and Geraghty all appeared in either Dear John or We Are Marshall, both which Linden penned).
Now The Hollywood Reporter says that Rosario Dawson and Lynn Collins have signed up to work on the film as well, rounding out the cast as it prepares to shoot early next year. The story focuses on a group of friends who reunite ten years after their high-school graduation. Sounds a bit like The Big Chill, which can't hurt it's potential to succeed, but I'd like to know a little bit more about where the plot will go before I sing any praises.
Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill are producing along with Tatum and his 33andOut Prods. partner Reid Carolin. The film shoots in New Mexico and all parties are eying a late 2011 release, so keep an eye out for this one.
Source: THR

Moviegoers may be surprised to learn that there are actually two major 3D releases arriving in theaters this weekend, only one of which features talking forest animals. Yogi Bear may not have fancy leather suits or motorcycles that travel on ribbons of light, but it does have the very funny Anna Faris, whom I’d gladly take over any of those trifles.*
I caught up with Faris to talk about Yogi Bear, her recent appearance on Sesame Street, and her various upcoming projects, none of are called Ghostbusters III:
Yogi Bear opens December 17, 2010.
* This, of course, is predicated on the assumption that motorcycles that travel on ribbons of light are theoretically impossible. If they weren’t, then Ms. Faris would likely rank second in the order of preference. But only by a slim margin.

The actress lived in Auckland while shooting the movie, and she's still confused about the way local men speak to women.
She explains, "The New Zealand men were funny. I was walking home from a concert one time... I've got my backpack on, I've got my heels on. There was a carload of guys - they were in their 40s - and they said, 'F**k you a**hole!'
"Three minutes later a car full of men said, 'Show me you t**s you stupid b**ch!'"

Faris was filming a scene down a river with class four rapids without a helmet, as a camera mounted on a boat sped in her direction to get the shot of her with the famous cartoon bear.
And she was left stunned when the boat failed to stop and crashed right into her.
She says, "We actually had an incident where a camera boat ran into my head."
But Faris managed to avoid major injury, insisting she was only left "a little bit dazed".

The House Bunny star's mother Karen was so strict, she refused to allow Faris and her brother to sit in front of the small screen after school and would even check up on the pair by feeling the TV's temperature to determine if it had been used.
So the kids came up with a unique way to keep their sneaky pastime a secret.
She says, "When I was growing up, my parents didn't let me watch TV, so I only (saw Yogi Bear) here and there.
"My mum would come home and she'd feel the television so my brother and I would wrap ice in towels to cool the television! We had to be innovative!"

The House Bunny star has been married to second husband Chris Pratt since last year (09) and although the couple has no plans to start a family just yet, she admits her mum and dad are constantly drawn into media claims she is expecting.
But Faris admits her "baby bump" is the result of her overindulgence.
She tells MTV's The Seven, "Every once in a while when I gain a little weight, I get the baby bump rumour. My parents would be like, 'Are we grandparents?' No, I just ate a lot when we were in Hawaii."

Zombies seem to have sunk their rotting teeth into the brains of Hollywood executives because they’re the only thing on their mind these days. Two new projects have been announced that revolve around the undead.
First up is a new film Boy Scouts vs. Zombies with Andy Flickman attached to direct. Flickman’s You Again is being released September 24th and was also recently announced to direct TMI, an Anna Faris comedy. Besides the title and the director, not much else is known about the project. If there isn’t a joke about getting a badge in Zombie killing then I want the money I spent on The Guide To Easy Movie Jokes 101 back.
Second is a new scripted series from MTV, Death Valley. Pitched as a horror-comedy-documentary following the ‘Undead Task Force,’ the series will follow UTF as they battle zombies, vampires, and werewolves in LA. The cast is a promising mix of up comers including Lost’s Alex Rousseau, Tania Raymonde and FunnyorDie’s epic The Big Dog Charlie Sanders. MTV also picked up another series, That Girl, revolving around a teenager who everyone believes tried to kill herself after an accident. It seems MTV is really into death lately. Maybe they should talk to someone about it. I’m sure there’s a hotline.
Back to the zombies! We might be reaching the Zombie Saturation Point soon (need to copyright that) but at least these projects seem to have some thought behind them. Boy Scouts vs. Zombies was an original script penned by College Road Trip’s Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki. With the craze of pre-branded material stalling at the box-office this past summer (we're looking at you Jonah Hex), a fresh ideas like this is refreshing. Death Valley could easily become Reno 911 with monsters. I wouldn’t complain about that one. And with The Walking Dead on AMC, Death Valley won’t be the only zombie shuffling crawling around.
Both of these projects are being classified as horror-comedy, a notoriously difficult genre to nail. Too scary and the comedy feels out of place. Not scary enough and it feels cheap. The humor has to be good enough to compete with traditional comedies and going toe to toe with Community and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (among many others) is not easy. But it can be done. Slither and Zombieland are on my list of favorite comedies. And Shaun of the Dead? Classic. They just have to make sure they do it well. Glad I’m here to deliver that profound message.
Sources: Deadline, ComingSoon

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." You've probably heard those words a thousand times before, and you know what? It's true. Director Andy Fickman has had great success with romantic comedies; in fact, he excels at making lighthearted, easy-to-digest commercial films (She's The Man, The Game Plan). Though he tried to expand his resume by making the so-so sci-fi sequel Race To Witch Mountain, he went back to doing what he does best with You Again, Disney's new trans-generational chick flick and is on a course to repeat that move with Universal's TMI.
Variety reports that Fickman has signed on to direct the Anna Faris comedy about a two best friends who accidentally sleep together but soon find out they know "too much information" about each other to make it work. Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith and Marc Klein penned the script. Longtime Faris collaborator Ryan Reynolds was attached to co-star, but has opted out of appearing in the film and will instead executive produce with Faris. Andrew Panay and Reynolds' partner Jonathan Komack-Martin will produce.
Given Fickman's credits, he is an ideal choice to navigate this story. He's proven that he can deliver broad humor and touching moments that are accessible to audiences of all ages, and that's exactly what TMI calls for. Relationship comedies are still very profitable in Hollywood, especially when a star doesn't eat up more than half of the production budget. Faris is great at what she does and offers a sizable bang for her buck - though she's not yet considered an A-list leading lady, her 2008 comedy The House Bunny took in almost $70 million and she's got plenty of box-office to back up her status thanks to four hit Scary Movies. Though I'd have loved to see her back on the big screen with Reynolds in this pic, I'll take Anna anyway I can get her.
Source: Variety

Summary

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, actress Anna Faris made a name for herself in broad comedies, starting with the horror spoof-within-a-spoof "Scary Movie" (2000) - itself a send-up of other horror parodies like "Scream" (1996) and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997). Faris made an immediate impact, which led to several sequels atop other studio comedies like "The Hot Chick" (2003), though she wisely began to break away, following a surprisingly memorable turn in the acclaimed indie "Lost in Translation" (2003). Her small, but potently comedic performance as a ditzy actress opened the doors to other more varied projects, including the romantic comedy "Just Friends" (2005) and the Oscar-winning drama, "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). But broad comedy remained her bread and butter, though sometimes to her detriment, particularly with her fourth go-round in "Scary Movie 4" (2006). By the time she starred opposite Seth Rogen in the raunchy "Observe and Report" (2009), Faris had established herself as a go-to actress for Hollywood comedies.

Announced engagement in January 2009 ; Married July 9, 2009 in a small ceremony in Bali, Indonesia

Education

Name

Edmonds Woodway High School

University of Washington

Notes

"Anna has a natural comic instinct. She's subtle, more the Leslie Nielsen type. Without batting an eyelash, she gets the laughs." – director David Zucker to Entertainment Weekly, Oct. 31, 2003

"I was maybe a little eccentric in high school. I felt unattractive, short and self-conscious about my body, and I would purposely emphasize that by doing odd things. I wore glasses, braces, odd hair-dos and dumpy clothes. I was clumsy and awkward." – Faris to Playboy magazine, September 2008